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Iran
Tourism
The disincentives resulting from the war, the anti-Western stance
of the revolutionary regime, and the restrictions on visas all
discouraged tourism after 1979. Visitors to the famous sites of
Persepolis, Pasargard, and Esfahan dwindled; the number of tourists
fell from a high of 695,500 in 1977 to 62,373 in 1982. By 1984,
however, the number of tourists had increased to 157,000. This
increase had a virtually negligible effect, however, on the economy.
AGRICULTURE
After nearly achieving agricultural self-sufficiency in the 1960s,
Iran reached the point in 1979 where 65 percent of its food had
to be imported. Declining productivity was blamed on the use of
modern fertilizers, which had inadvertently scorched the thin
Iranian soil. Unresolved land reform issues, a lack of economic
incentives to raise surplus crops, and low profit ratios combined
to drive increasingly large segments of the farm population into
urban areas.
The 1979 Revolution sought self-sufficiency in foodstuffs as
part of its overall goal of decreased economic dependence on the
West. Higher government subsidies for grain and other staples
and expanded short- term credit and tax exemptions for farmers
complying with government quotas were intended by the new regime
to promote self-sufficiency. But by early 1987, Iran was actually
more dependent on agricultural imports than in the 1970s.
Data as of December 1987
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